A significant percentage of men and women experience the partial or total loss of hair during their lives. One of the first locations where this loss becomes apparent is along the frontal portion of the hairline. Options for making such hair loss less conspicuous generally include undergoing hair transplantation surgery, wearing decorative head coverings such as hats and bandannas, wearing full wigs, and wearing or applying extensions or partial hairpieces.
Partial hairpieces tend to be individually designed for application to a specific portion of the head requiring hair augmentation. Partial hairpieces generally present a cost advantage over full wigs because the manufacturing of partial hairpieces requires less foundation material, less natural or synthetic hair, and less bonding or fastening of hair to the foundation. Partial hairpieces also have an advantage over hair extensions in that partial hairpieces generally do not require anchoring to the wearer's natural hair, which may be too short, sparse or brittle to rely on for effective anchoring support. For an example of such a hair extension apparatus and method of using same, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,921, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Frontal “islands” have been applied in a similar manner, as illustrated, in part, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,389, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Frontal hairpieces are a type of partial hairpiece designed to augment the wearer's thinning or lost natural hair toward the front of the scalp. As such, the forward-most part of the frontal hairpiece is typically positioned to form the frontal hairline of the wearer from the viewpoint of the observer. The frontal hairline is where the wearer's hair roots appear to end and the upper edge of the face, or forehead, appears to begin. Those in the art are well aware that making such a frontal hairpiece appear natural and inconspicuous to the observer continues to present a significant challenge. The difficulty in using artificial hairpieces to create a natural frontal hairline is significant enough to motivate some to prefer techniques which employ surgical hair transplantation at the frontal hairline, and an artificial hairpiece only where the typically perceptible edges of the hairpiece would be less noticeable, such as on the top or back of the head. An example of such a technique is disclosed, in part, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,607,479, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Prior art frontal hairpieces commonly rely on “bangs,” or overhanging strands of hair, to drape an otherwise conspicuous artificial frontal hairline from view. Even if the foundation material blends in well with the scalp of the wearer, where the hairline resulting from a frontal hairpiece is left visible, the high density with which hair is applied to the foundation of the hairpiece proximate its forward edge often results in an artificial appearance. This is because natural hairlines typically do not form an abrupt transition from dense hair to a complete lack of hair. Instead, the density of a person's natural hair tends to decrease more gradually as it approaches the hairline from the top of the head. Further, natural hairlines typically trace an uneven, irregular path across the forehead, rather than a perfectly smooth, symmetrical curve.
There exists a need for an inexpensive frontal hairpiece that can be applied by the wearer without the help of a professional hairdresser, presents a more natural-looking hairline and stays in place on the wearer's head.